DANISH LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

Learn about Danish language
and culture in Denmark

Hjem / Danish language and culture

Purpose and learning objectives: This course Danish Language and Culture offers students an introduction to the Danish language, culture and society. The course is for foreign as well as Danish students who need to develop language skills and cultural understanding. That could be students that have lived a long time abroad or grown up without the opportunity to learn the language, or it could be foreign students of Scandinavian languages who need practical training.

The main learning objectives are:

  • Training the practical mastery of the Danish language and learning about its grammar and construction.
  • Exploring various aspects of social and cultural life in Denmark – e.g. business, education system, art and politics.
  • Understanding the explored phenomena in a historical and societal context.

Activities: The programme will be conducted through an interplay between lectures, training sessions, exercises, projects and field trips. The use of the Danish language is trained by dealing with a variety of cultural and societal subjects, e.g.:

  • History
  • Politics and political culture
  • Labour market and its regulations
  • Welfare systems
  • Educational system
  • Art, e.g. film, pictures and music
  • Literature
  • Journalism and media
  • Food, life style and Danish traditions

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Learn Danish

You will be trained in expressing themselves – verbally and in writing – and in analyzing problems in Danish society and current debates. The teaching is conducted in Danish but will be differentiated according to the student’s mastery of the Danish language. The texts used are chosen to bring insight to and understanding of the Danish culture and society.

During the field trips the participants will visit different institutions and communities in Denmark. One field trip will go to Copenhagen and include visits to important places to the Danish society.

Make Danish and international friends

You will live together with the other students at the school. The life at a boarding school with a majority of Danish students will be the ideal environment for acquiring familiarity with language, social norms and culture. Besides ”Danish Language and Culture” you will have ”Valgfag” (electives) and ”Fællesfag” which are subjects together with the other students at the school.  

Admission

The price includes college trip. There is no college trip during a 14-week stay.
When you register, you pay a registration fee of DKK 500 and a deposit of DKK 1,500, for a total of DKK 2,000.

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Admission and tuition fee

The tuition fee is 180 euro per week. The fee will cover tuition, accommodation and meals, excursions and a study trip to a Baltic country.

The student must be at least 17 and a half-year old at the start of the course. Basic knowledge of Danish is a requirement and it is recomendable to have a good level of English.

Former students about studying at Askov Højskole:

My goal was accomplished – and I made new friends

I went to højskole to learn more about the danish language and to be able to pass Studieprøven, which I have. Now I hope to have a future here in Denmark. I come from Brazil, but have been in Danmark before, because my sister has been living here for more than 15 years. I have studied Veterinary Medicine in Brazil and have been to an internship here, so I already knew a bit about the country and culture. I have taken online danish classes in Brazil, therefore I could speak and understand a bit of danish beforehand.

I have achieved what I wanted and have also made a lot of new friends. I love our team. We talk about so many things and we also learn about other cultures because we come from so many different places in the world: USA, Japan, Thailand and other countries.  It has been really good for me to get to know people with such different backgrounds.

During my time here in Askov I have played in a band and it’s just been so much fun, because I never thought I would do that, but here there is room for everyone, and everyone has the opportunity to express themselves. I feel that I have gained more confidence, with this experience. The social life here is amazing and I simply got to know so many people.

The relation to the teachers is also special and good. I like talking to them, and it’s a bit different from Brazil, where it can sometimes be more difficult to approach teachers – or bosses.

I hope to stay in Denmark and work here.  Initially, I am looking for a job in the pharmaceutical industry, where I can use my background as a veterinarian. If I fail to get a job, I have to go back to Brazil, because there are many rules in relation to foreigners here, even when we are highly qualified.

Anna Victoria Antunes, E22, Dansk Sprog og Kultur

I have gotten more than expected

Before coming to Askov Højskole, I lived in Hannover, Germany, and I started with a decent ability to comprehend Danish and I only had a very limited ability to speak Danish. I have a Danish father and a German mother. I decided to learn Danish because I wanted to study in Denmark and thus I discovered Askov Højskole. 

After completing one semester, I noticed a significant improvement in my Danish understanding and my written and verbal performance in the language. In fact, I decided to take one more semester! Afterwards, I hope to attend Denmark’s Technical University, DTU, to become an engineer. My dream is to work in a place which applies robotics! 

Other than becoming better at Danish, I’ve also met some wonderful friends at the Højskole and I’ve actually gotten more than what I expected. I for one have experienced leadership roles in some of the many activities here at the Højskole. It was quite strange for me, seeing as I actually consider myself an introvert, but everyone at the school is so caring and understanding, it helped me open up more! 

Many of the activities we have at the Højskole are opportunities which challenge you and bring you out of your comfort zone. It has actually been quite good for me. For example, I’ve chosen podcast as an elective and I actually hate the sound of my voice, but I grew to accept and ultimately live with it, especially after the many projects and recordings we did in class. 

I used to only hang around with a small inner circle, only my very close friends, but ever since coming to the Højskole, I’ve grown to be more social and interact with more people! Moving from Hannover to Denmark was a significant change for me, especially since I’ve always been very close to and with my family for most of my life so far. I miss them very much, but I haven’t exactly been homesick.  The best part of my stay here had to be being with all my new friends. We’ve had such a lovely time and experienced so much together. It has been fantastic to spend so much time together with my friends. 

Frederik Friis-Pedersen, E22 and F23, Dansk Sprog og Kultur

Meeting Danish culture has been fantastic

I knew very little about Denmark in advance. My father is Danish, and I have met some of my other family members, but I knew nothing about Danish youth culture, so it’s been a great experience meeting young Danes here at the højskole. 

We’ve spoken a lot about differences. I’ve been surprised by how many young people here in Denmark are rooted to their own culture. I personally have never felt such a cultural connection. My father is Danish, my mother Thai, and we live in the USA, so I don’t really have the feeling that I belong somewhere, like the Danes do. 

It was my dad that suggested that I go to Askov Højskole after finishing highschool. I didn’t know what I wanted – only that I did not want to go to college in the USA. For me it was both great and frightening going to Denmark, and when I arrived at Askov, I was surprised by how many Danish students I met. I thought that the school would just be for international students. At first I thought that I could never make friends with the Danish students, but this worry was thankfully put to rest. Everyone speaks good English, so language isn’t a problem.  

In the beginning it was strange living with so many people I didn’t know, but we’ve grown close after we got to know each other better, and it is fantastic being together all the time. For example, eating together with other people is something I’ve never done before, so it was completely new to me, but now I really enjoy it. The relationship between students and teachers is also completely different to what I was familiar with in the US, where we couldn’t even address our teachers by their first names. Here at the højskole, we get to know the teachers as people, as we spend time together outside the classroom doing various activities, for example swimming or fishing trips.  I’ve gotten something different, something better, than expected, and I have discovered that I could have a life here in Denmark. This is something I want, and I hope that I can go to university here. 

Sandra Pedersen, E22, Dansk Sprog og Kultur